We spent a lovely day today in the Gaspereaux Valley, in and around Wolfville, and Port William. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and the drive was full of sights of orchards, vineyards, and farmers’ markets.

Our original destination was a yarn shop called ‘Gasperau Valley Fibres‘. An idyllic setting, with rolling fields, red barns, and a rustic shop full of yarn, wool, fibres, and other knitting accessories.

After chatting with the owner we were told of an ‘eccentric’ man who has a barn (4 floors) full of antiques. Immediately the ears perked, and we hit the road. We were not to be disappointed.

Country Barn Antiques was like nothing I have ever seen in all my antiquing days. The lady at the fibre shop was 100% correct. This place was 4 floors of jam-packed, to-the-rafters, make-your-head-spin treasures.

The place (as you can see) was overwhelming. It was packed full of an amazing assortment of everything under the sun, from dishes, to Christmas ornaments, to rustic pine furniture, to mannequins dressed in vintage garb, to this awesome 13 1/2 foot mahogany table.

The ‘eccentric’ owner (Ken), proceeded to tell us about his ‘other building’ where he had a few more things. He mentioned that there had been some people there yesterday to do a bit of a procedure to clear the place of some ‘spirits’

“Yeah, I don’t believe in all the paranormal stuff, but apparently some people who go there can feel these things” he told me.

“These people were there yesterday holding hands out on the lawn in a circle, and chanting and all this crazy stuff. We’ve been burning some sage incense to ward off the spirits. It smells like marijuana, you know. But it’s not what you think. It’s incense.”

He handed me a map, giving us some directions to the ‘Borden House Antiques’.

“You just go up the road there, past the church. You’ll see the tents all out on the lawn because they’re having a 100th birthday party for Rev. Davies there today” he commented.

“Keep going up the road, and take a left at the next intersection. There’ll be a blinkin’ light. Go down the road, and it’s on your left.”

So, like good little treasure hunters, off we went.

Once again, we were not to be disappointed. We came across the amazing ‘Borden House’ just where he described. It was like stepping back in time.

Ken was kind enough to tell me which room was haunted (it’s the room on the second floor, above the bay window). Apparently a young woman, with long hair and a blue velvet dress occupies the room, along with a little boy.

“Whenever I see ‘her’, I just tell her to dust”, Ken told me before we left the country barn.

“I figure if she is going to haunt the place, she might as well make herself useful. The place is filthy”

Here’s a picture of ‘the room’ from inside.

And no, that’s not her.

‘Borden House Antiques’ was staffed by an older woman who had probably been sitting there all day without a single visitor. She was eager to talk about the “de-ghosting” that had happened the day before, and even showed us the salt that had been sprinkled in a circle out on the back porch to ward off the spirits.

She proclaimed that the people who had been there the day earlier (according to her they travel around the province scaring off ghosts) had managed to get the spirits to leave the house, and when the ‘little boy’ had run out of the place “the whole house shook”.

From the looks of the ashtray that was beside the chair that she was sitting in, I think she has been partaking in a bit of the ‘sage incense’, if you know what I’m saying.

Unfortunately, everything that we asked about was ‘not for sale’, or so wildly overpriced that we couldn’t afford it. Nonetheless, it was an experience that I will not soon forget.

Let us know if you’re searching for mecca also, we’ll point you in the right direction.

We’ve found and purchased the fabric for the couch! Last week we went fabric shopping and found a sample of a fabric we liked. We took the sample home and immediately placed it on the Bergere chairs to make sure it matched the patterns. Yes, patterns as in more than one! Again, more on these chairs later.

We then took the sample and placed it on the back, side and bottom of the couch. Success! The fabric is perfect. It is an excellent neutral with unique colouring and slight texture that will make the couch a more sustainable piece of furniture. Depending on the throw pillows, the new fabric should make the couch versatile enough for just about any palette and decor style. We are so excited!

A word on clearance sections (in general) but given the subject of this post, in fabric stores. Clearance sections tend to be where the more unique types of fabric are. They are usually on sale because they weren’t popular. If they weren’t popular that means they are more unique and therefore more interesting. They are, of course, also cheaper. For example, the fabric we purchased was only $4.98/m so the total cost for fabric to recover our couch was just over $50. We would have been losing money not to buy it! Given we purchased the couch on Kijiji and have an upholsterer with fair pricing, we will have a custom made couch for about $1000. That, my friends, is a steal of a deal.